Changeover
by Deandra
Summary: Lothiriel changes dance partners. Fluffy little ONESHOT. Part 149 of the Elfwine Chronicles.


_**Part 149 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots built around the family group of Eomer, Lothiriel and Elfwine. The total number will depend on how many ideas I get for new vignettes.**_

_**A/N: This happens during the same visit to Gondor as in "Opinion".**_

**Changeover**

**(Gondor - May, 2 IV)**

A heavy hand clamped down on the shoulder of Lothiriel's dance partner, bringing him to a rather abrupt halt. "My lord," a voice growled low and menacingly, "you have two choices. You will step aside and allow me to partner my queen from here on, or you will dance with her in a more appropriate manner. Should you choose neither of these options, I will be forced to…_persuade_ you otherwise!"

The man's face went red, though to Lothiriel, who was trying valiantly to hide her smirk, she rather thought the fool was more angry than embarrassed or frightened. He had requested permission to dance with her, which she had granted readily enough, but as had been noted, his behavior since was as irritating as it was inappropriate. She had been on the verge of taking drastic action against the man when this unsought aid had arrived.

"How dare you!" the man snarled. "How I dance with the lady is none of your concern!" He looked to Lothiriel for support in this matter, but found her gazing impassively at him. As the hand on his shoulder painfully tightened its grip, he became more unnerved since he was no match for this man. "Surely your majesty will not allow this hooligan to disrupt our dancing!"

"On the contrary," Lothiriel smiled benignly, "I find his intervention most timely. And you should be thanking him for saving you a most unpleasant encounter with my husband. Had it been the King of Rohan who found it necessary to rescue me from you, you would not have been given a choice about what you did. My husband has a rather vile temper, particularly when it comes to someone behaving offensively toward his wife."

The man stared at her, blustering frantically that he had never intended any offense, but Lothiriel raised a hand to silence him. "Spare me your excuses. You knew very well I did not appreciate your advances and yet you persisted. I recommend a strategic withdrawal immediately, for your sake. And should you choose to make an issue of this to your king, you may be certain that I will back Eothain completely. I have little doubt King Elessar will believe me more than you. Now then, be gone!"

With another glare, the nobleman angrily shrugged his shoulder out of Eothain's grasp and stalked away. The big man watched him depart for an instant before turning to Lothiriel and observing, "It would appear, my lady, that you are in need of a dance partner. May I offer my services?"

"With pleasure…and gratitude, Captain! I thank you for your assistance. I do not like to make a scene, but I was very near to doing so."

She stepped toward him and caught his arm, then pivoted and swung them into the dance at the appropriate moment. It took a bit before they came together again long enough for Eothain to respond. With a devilish grin, he asked, "Then you do not wish for me to behave inappropriately with you? That is not the way to make others believe I am a Gondorian nobleman?"

She let out a laugh, stepping through the dance paces, then commented softly, "It might well seem that way, but I would think you know my husband too well to risk it. Perhaps, instead, you will wish to do so with Queen Arwen?"

Eothain sniggered and shook his head. "I think not! I have seen Elessar in battle, and heard how long he has waited for his bride. I think his sense of humor in such matters would be very…non-existent!"

"Aye!" Lothiriel grinned, coming to a stop and curtsying as the dance ended. Then her expression sobered, as she added, "But I would gladly take a thousand gallant Rohirrim over even a half dozen self-important Gondorian noblemen. Your manners may not be so refined as theirs, but in essentials you are of far greater worth."

She gave another low curtsy in a show of respect, and Eothain flushed slightly red. For a moment, he did not know how to respond, then finally he simply answered, "Thank you, my lady. You are very kind to say so." Offering his arm he led her from the floor, and she squeezed it slightly, as they moved to join her husband who had finally arrived from his meeting with Elessar.

Eothain bowed as he handed her over to her husband, and moved away after excusing himself. For a moment, Eomer gazed after his friend, then glanced at his wife, raising a questioning eyebrow. "Was Eothain blushing?"

She smiled and nodded. "I paid him a compliment that I do not think he was expecting. Although he is quite aggravating at times, he is a very good man. I am pleased to know you may claim such a dear friend. Now then, will you dance with your wife? She is in desperate need of your arms around her, and the next dance _almost_ allows it!"

He chuckled, then replied. "I could do that. But once the dance concludes, perhaps you would wish to go elsewhere for some private dancing, where we may set the terms of interaction?"

"A fine idea, I think! A very fine idea indeed!" she concurred.

THE END

4/25/07

_**A/N2: Possibly I should explain my thinking about Lothiriel there. While she feels fairly confident in her role as the daughter of Dol Amroth's prince and the queen of Rohan for three years, in Minas Tirith she still feels something like a little girl who has to behave herself in public. Hence her reason for being hesitant to make a scene with the nobleman's inappropriate behavior (which is basically touching her too familiarly and saying inappropriate things - Eothain can read her expression as 'annoyed' even if others cannot). I'm presuming that now that some of the "gratitude" has worn off for their help in the War, some of the nobles have reverted to thinking of those in Rohan as wild and barbaric, and rather think any woman who would align herself with them might be "up for anything". They would never dare insult her or Eomer like this where their own royalty could hear, but they are not above some shenanigans "behind the scenes", and think their advances will be too well received for anyone to ever find out and challenge them on it. Eothain, of course, has no tact in such matters and isn't the slightest bit reluctant on that score! And it will not be much longer before Lothiriel begins to gain confidence in this arena as well and feels like she has more control of such situations.**_

_**Also, shie1dmaidenofrohan brought this up, and I've thought about it before, so I thought now might be a good time to mention this detail: **_Because I tend to write the romantic tales, it SEEMS as if Eomer and Lothiriel are always hopping into bed. But if you consider the scope of the Chronicles - from their marriage until just past Eomer's death (so far) - that's close to 65 years, with only about 155 stories told from it. Since not all the stories have them in bed, that averages to about twice a year! It just seems like they're amorous more often._**  
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_**End note: **__** It is best that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written.**__** The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order, but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content.**_


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